Boot rack



y 3, 1966 R. L. MATLOCK 3,249,231

BOOT RACK Filed May 25, 1964 INVENTOR Rob-er) L. Mar/00k ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,249,231 BOOT RACK Robert L. Matlock, 3265 W. Mexico Ave., Denver, Colo.

Filed May 25, 1964, Ser. No. 369,956

' 1 Claim. (Cl. 211-35) This inventionrelates to equipment appropriate for the conveniently practical storage of that category of. footwear known generally as top boots and variously as riding boots, cowboy boots, Western boots, and the like, distinguished by high, solid uppers, or leg portions, and has as an object to provide a novel and improved rack for the retention of individual such boots in positions of advantageous availability.

A- further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved boot rack that is applicable to intended use in any preferred one of many mounting arrangements and unit combinations.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved boot rack that is facile of retentive coaction with a boot manually presented thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved boot rack that is cooperable to attainment of its purposes with boot units of diverse size, particularity, and proportions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved boot rack that is suited for production from a variety of commonly-available materials in any desired range of sizes, capacities, and visual effects.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved boot rack that is simple and economical of production, sturdily durable in use, and positive and eflicient in attainment of the ends for which designed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and operative combination of elements as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the appended claim, and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which FIGURE 1 is an edge elevational view of a typical embodiment of the invention as positioned for practical use in supporting relation with a boot, a portion of the latter being broken away to expose otherwise concealed features.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the arrangements according to FIGURE 1 with a portion of the boot broken away for clarity of structural illustration.

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view of an arrangement utilizing the structure represented by the preceding views in a duplicate combination suited to accommodate a pair of boots.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary, detail view showing in side elevation and on a relatively-enlarged scale a modification within the contemplation of the invention.

Characterized by stiff, tubular leg portions of considerable length, top boots are not amenable to conventional storage with conservation of space and convenient avail ability, and the instant invention is hence directed to the provision of a novel and improved boot rack unit suited for preferred placement singly or in multiple combinations to individually receive, support, and store top boots of wide diversity with notable facility of use and convenience of access to applied charge.

Representative of footwear in the top boot category for the storage whereof the rack of the instant invention is designed, such are shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 3 of the drawings as comprising, as is customary, a foot portion having a heel 11 limiting and defining a shank 12 forwardly thereof, and a tubular leg portion 13 elongated in upward extension from the foot portion 10.

For the expedient reception and storage of the type of boot represented, the rack is constituted in accordance with the principles of the invention as a post 14 suited for upright placement, a perch 15 outstanding perpendicularly from a lower reach of said post, and a crook 16 spacedly overhanging said perch from connection to an upper reach of the post to define with the latter a throat opening downwardly along the post in opposition to the perch. The post 14 is a preferably straight length of suitable rigid material arranged for substantially vertical disposition in, any desired manner, not specifically shown. Conventionally, and well within the ordinary skill of the art, the post 14 maybe formed to engage with and upstand from a fixed or movable floor-supported base; the post may be suspended to hang against a wall from an overhanging hook or bracket; or the post may be secured in direct attachment to a vertical wall; all such dispositions being within the contemplation of the invention as options in themselves devoid of inventive merit. The perch 15 may be, as shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, integrally formed on and to project perpendicularly from the lower reach of the post 14 at, or near, the end thereof, or, as represented by FIGURE 4, the perch may be a separate arm 15' having a yoked end 17 hinged by a pin 18 to, or near, the lowerend of the post in a manner to fold at times upwardly against the post from braced, operative projection perpendicularly therefrom. The crook 16 may be, as shown, an integral extension of the post 14 or, with like functional effect, an initially-separate component securely attached to the post, in either of which specific constructions the crook is disposed to lie in the ing from and above the operative position of the perch substantially less than the interior length of an ordinary top boot. Connection of the crook 16 to the post 14 is had at a distance upwardly from the operative position of the perch considerably exceeding the customary height of a top boot, whereby to establish between the hook member of the crook and the adjacent post a'laterallynarrow, elongated throat opening toward and in opposition to the perch wherein a margin of the boot leg portion 13 may be slidably received and retained as the boot is elevated along the post to engagement of the shank 12 over and upon the perch 15, thus concluding through single-hand manipulation of the boot the supported reception and stored retention of the boot distinctively characterizing the improved rack.

With the shank 12 of the boot engaged over the perch 15 as shown and described, the so-supported boot.is out of balance and tilts in reaction to the influence of gravity acting on the foot portion projection offset laterally of the perch, in correction whereof it is effective to provide a stem 20 slidably engaged perpendicular to the plane of the perch and crook through the free end 19 of the hook memberof the crook 16 in coaction with a clamp 21 operable in a usual manner to accommodate and determine the relative lateral projection of said stem, and to enlarge that end of the stem 20 overhanging the position of the boo-t heel 11 as a smooth-faced, desirablycushioned stop 22 adjustably opposable interiorly of the boot leg portion 13 to the inner wall of the latter otherwise influenced to tilt toward the post and crook; said stem 20 and stop 22 obviously being freely receivable within the boot leg portion 13 to the inner wall of the latter otherwise influenced to tilt toward the post and crook; said stem 20 and stop 22 obviously being freely receivable within the boot leg portion during application of the boot to the rack.

It is feasible and practical to utilize individual units of the improved boot rack in such number and independent mounted dispositions as may be desired, such use being typified by FIGURES 1 and 2, and it is equally feasible and practical to combine individual such units in and to constitute assemblies for the accommodation of several boots in a given rack installation, one such combination appropriate to store a pair of boots being exemplified by FIGURE 3, wherein a pair of the complete rack units having the post 14, perch 15, and crook 16 is yoked in parallel and in vertically offset relation by a connecting strut 23 to complete an organization itself amenable to appropriate support and disposition with the posts 14 thereof substantially vertical. Through elevation of one of the conjoined rack units relative to the other the two boots of a pair may be accommodated with the heel 11 of one overhanging the projecting foot portion 10 of the other, whereby to minimize lateral width of the assembly with conservation of space required for the installation.

Operation and practical use of the improvement as variously adapted should be clear from the foregoing.

Since changes, variations, and modifications in the form, construction, and arrangement of the elements shown and described may be had Without departing from the spirit of my invention, I wish to be understood as being limited solely by the scope of the appended claim, rather than by any details of the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

I claim as my invention:

In a rack for the storage of boots having elongated leg portions comprising a straight, rigid post of substantial length suited for upright placement furnished with a perch projecting laterally from a lower reach thereof and an upper terminal crook contiguously overlying the adjacent reach of the post spaced above and in the plane of said perch to define with the post an elongated, laterallynarrow throat opening toward the perch in a disposition to be slidably received in the leg portion of a boot elevated to fulcrumed support upon the perch, the throatdefining span of the crook extending from the upper-end attachment to the post to a free end separated from the perch in a spacing less than the length of such span, means for adjustably limiting and determining oscillation in one direction of a boot fulcrumed in support uponthe perch With'the free end of the crook interiorly of its leg portion, comprising a stem receivable interiorly and transversely of the boot leg portion, axially shiftable in and through the free end'of the crook substantially perpendicular to the plane common to the crook and perch, a clamp manually actuable to secure said stem in adjusted relation with the free end of the crook, and a smooth-faced stop on the end of said stem opposed to the tilt tendency of the perch-fulcrumed boot.

References Cited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner. 0 FRANK L. ABBOTT, CLAUDE A. LEROY,

Examiners. 

